The Mind-Benders (1967)

Original title

The Mind-Benders: LSD and the Hallucinogens

Directed by

Lee R. Bobker

Genre

documentary

Country

United States

Runtime

25 min

Rating

7.0 of 10 from 2 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

This 1960s government documentary looks at LSD and other hallucinogens. It shows interviews with users and doctors, and includes graphics meant to suggest a drug experience.

educationalclinicalcautionaryinformationaldatedinstructionalsober

What happens

The Mind-Benders is an educational antidrug documentary film concerning hallucinogens produced for the United States Food and Drug Administration in 1967. It "explores the potential therapeutic uses and the known hazards of LSD and other hallucinogens, as well as some of the motivations of abusers". The color 16 mm film was made available from Bureau of Drug Abuse Control field offices and from the FDA National Medical Audiovisual Center. The government's description states that it contains "graphics that suggest a hallucinogenic experience, snippets of interviews with users (who explain their reasons for taking the drug) and doctors, and taped sessions of research with volunteers, the film delves into the destructive as well as possible positive uses of the drug". According to some academics, the policies pursued by the government including this and other anti-drug films, "structured social experience [of users]...in such a way as to generate experiences defined as bad trips". The film was recommended for school curricula by government and non-government authorities, and was used in some U.S. schools. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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